Winter Roses
by blackwolfmajik
Summary: Hellsing Ultimate universe, not long after Alucard's return. (Pairing: A&I) Life waits for no one and 30yrs is a long time to think through its tougher choices. A quiet winter walk is the perfect moment to make those long buried thoughts known before too much more time is lost.


**Hellsing – Winter Roses (Integra + Alucard)**

**Soundtrack: **_From Past to Present (Skyrim OST)_ – Jeremy Soule

****AN:** Insert standard disclaimer here – I own nada!

Please review! This is my first Hellsing story since I'm a very recent addict of Alucard's charms (good gods, could read the phonebook and I'd be…well, you can probably guess…). This is intended to be a one-shot, but I do have a few more scenes in mind that could be tied in – but I might save those for later.

**EDIT Made a very minor text change to the ending, nothing major - just wording that I liked better from a second draft.

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**Hellsing – Winter Roses**

He followed the scent of tobacco and lilies as it threaded through the echoing halls and into the garden. There was no taint of fear or anger to her trail, but he was mildly curious as to why his master would be wandering at such a late hour.

On the verandah, he paused to take in the midnight beauty before him. Snow had fallen lightly through most of the day, coating the garden in a blanket of white and diamondine ice. Solar lanterns glowed blue in the heavy air, lighting frozen fountains and carefully tended pathways through dormant rose bushes. The small smile that curved his lips was quiet and reverent in the snowbound silence around him.

Though he didn't hurry, he found her in moments, drawn like a needle toward magnetic north.

She was wrapped in a thick woolen blanket, mindful of the cold but too stubborn to stay indoors. The chill didn't bother him at all, having long since given up the warmth of human life in exchange for eternity. He gazed at her aquiline profile and waited for the inevitable.

"Are you going to stare all evening, Alucard? Or are you going to offer me a light?"

His typical demonic grin split his face, but it didn't shine quite as brightly as she remembered.

Integra huffed. "The cancer is already killing me. One more cigar won't make me die any faster, but it will keep back the cold a little."

Red eyes kept their thoughts hidden behind his tinted glasses, but he flicked open the golden Zippo dutifully.

The master of Hellsing sucked on the cigar with appreciation, giving her vampire a satisfied smirk. "Walk with me," she commanded.

Together they moved through the silent snow, the only noises the crunch of their boots and the faint whisper of breeze across the sleeping roses.

"Should you not be out here, my Master?" he asked gently.

She scoffed. "You my doctor now too, servant?"

"Merely concerned for your comfort."

Integra sighed, the smoke from her cigar sailing up into the midnight sky. She tipped her head back as soft flakes of new snow began to filter down onto her cheeks and glasses. A smile tugged at her lips as she felt his scarlet coat settle around her shoulders. There was no residual warmth from his body, but the unique scent that was his filled her nose.

"I know you are," she said finally. "But…just a little longer."

The vampire gave her a long look before saying: "It is a beautiful night, isn't it? It would be a shame to miss it."

She led him to an arbor grown over with skeletal vines. In spring the trusses would be bursting with white climbing roses so fragrant they would fill the entire garden with their rich scent. In the deep winter night, the blooms slumbered with unseen promise and the blue shine of the solar lanterns.

"I was glad these survived the attacks on the mansion; they're all I have left of my grandmother," Integra said, caressing a woody stem. "Granna called them Winter Roses. When I was a child I thought she meant that they would bloom in the snow, but it was just because they were white. I would help her in the garden and she would put flowers in my hair."

Alucard grinned at the image. "I daresay this was before you decided to hide yourself in men's clothing? Such fancy would ruin the effect you were going for."

She slanted him an exasperated glare. "I was seven and a proper English Lady. I hadn't met you or your corrupting influence at that point."

"Corrupting?" his laugh was like molasses, sweet and bitter at the same time. Alucard boldly closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. "I believe you were well on your way to darkness, my dear. I merely made sure you didn't trip."

Integra didn't pull away like she had every other time he invaded her space. She stood there in the crystalline shadows and looked at him, her good eye gone black in the night.

"How foolish I must have seemed to you then, so young."

She felt the chuckle vibrate deep in his chest. "You are still so young."

"Not so much," Integra countered. "Time has made things clearer for me, about what's important."

Alucard watched curiously as her brow set in a determined furrow. "And what is that?"

"You," she said simply. "I'm not afraid to say it anymore."

The vampire stilled. Had the silken blackness of his hair not continued to brush against her, Integra would have thought he had been carved of marble and crimson by some insane sculptor.

"I didn't realize how much I loved you until you were gone. My House was in ruins, my country devastated, Walter-" her voice finally broke, but she took a breath and pressed on as if afraid she wouldn't be able to say everything on her mind. "It was losing you that hurt the most."

Silence swallowed them once more, broken only by the faint breeze tinkling icicles like ethereal wind chimes.

"You were gone so long," she whispered. "I didn't think you were coming home."

Alucard finally stirred, raising his hand to stroke his thumb across her cheek tenderly. "I'm sorry."

Integra leaned into his touch, sadness deepening the shadows of her face.

"There are so many things I wanted from my life," she said quietly. "Safety for my Queen, my country, my House – maybe even a family. Now that it's over, I don't know if I got any of that."

With deliberate slowness, the ancient vampire leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss as delicate as spun glass.

When Alucard leaned back to gaze at her flushed cheeks, he smiled. "Perhaps you got more than you expected?"

"So full of yourself," Integra admonished without heat, her heart beating harder than it ever had in the midst of battle. "But perhaps I did."

They were quiet for a time, simply holding each other in the frozen shadow of dead roses.

"What is it that _you _want, Count?" Integra's voice was barely above a whisper.

He chuckled. "A master asking her servant his desires? Surely the world has gone mad."

Her grimace was brief, being too tired to stay annoyed. "If you could have anything, what would you want? Freedom? For me to live by your side as a vampire?"

Alucard's customary smirk faded to nothing. "No, my beloved Countess."

Integra's expression was confused as he leaned down to kiss her once more.

"What I want?" he said finally. "Is to die with you."

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**AN (apologies for it being super long):**

Ok, I've watch both the Anime and the OVA as well as read some of the Manga for Hellsing. Even though the outcome between Integra and Alucard is never explicitly stated, I think it's pretty safe to make some assumptions based on context.

Anime Alucard makes the offer to make Integra a vampire because he can't help himself, he wins either way. He either gets a gorgeous dominatrix that will keep him entertained for eternity, or he gets to watch the last of his enemy's bloodline die and release him from the blood seals. Integra, who is locked up in a cell and likely on her way to execution, has a 50/50 chance of saying: "Sure, let's eat some bastards." Or "Are you an idiot? I'm not going to throw away everything my family fought for just to get an 11th hour reprieve." Personally, I think she would accept becoming a vampire. Her iron willpower would not let her sit idly by while others made decisions about her life.

OVA Alucard is different, I don't think he would seriously offer to change Integra. He might tease her about it, but I don't think he would actually want to make her a vampire. The reason I say this is because of his comments to Walter about his aged and wrinkled form being exponentially more beautiful than his youthful vampire form. Alucard values and envies the fact that humans can grow old and die while he is stuck forever in an immortal form. As much as he might like getting pushed around by Lady Hellsing and would mourn her death, I don't think Alucard would take what he loves about her the most away. That being said, I think it might actually be Integra that brings the subject up and asks. She's older now, things have come into sharper perspective about her legacy. She has no children, everything she has worked for will be lost or divided after she is gone. She lost 30 years of precious time being able to explore her feelings for her bound monster.

The hauntingly domestic scene during the battle of London of Alucard with his Countess and 'daughter' begs the question: What would have happened if Alexander hadn't interfered?

Would the mutual taste for blood and destruction that Alucard and Integra shared be enough for her to take the last step across the line of mortality? I kinda think so.


End file.
